In wireless communication, security needs may mandate enciphering data. However, enciphering some data may require overhead due to the need to add a PN (Packet Number) and an ICV (Integrity Check Value). For example, but not by way of limitation, in the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) 802.16e (WiMAX), the overhead is 12 bytes.
In packet communication systems, the percentage overhead is greater for small packets than for large packets. However, in systems like WiMAX where packets are fragmented, the benefits are reduced since there will be multiple crypto overheads per packet. Efficiency is very poor at, for example, cell-edge scenarios where large packets are sent in many small fragments, each with a crypto overhead.
A way to apply enciphering that is efficient for small and large bursts with small and large packets is needed.